The National Gallery of Australia has in their collection a superb Margaret Preston print Lorikeets 1925. It is a wood cut printed in black and hand coloured. Describe or demonstrate how this print is done using Printing Foam. Create a black print, allow it to dry and then hand colour it with coloured pencils. Lorikeets are native Australian birds, a small to medium sized parrot. People keep them as pets especially the Rainbow Lorikeet. Ask the class if they know of someone who has a pet Lorikeet and ask them to bring it to school to show the class. Discuss the beautiful colours and markings of the bird. The male and female have the same colouring unlike the Birds of Paradise and Peacock.
Materials
Kinder Squares Heavy Weight 254sq
A3 Cover Paper Green
Rubbing Plates
Zart Drawing Blocks
Zart Glue Sticks
Tissue Paper Assorted
Cardboard Squares
Buttons Assorted
How to create Australian Lorikeets
Step 1
Cover a large Kinder Square with a collage of torn strips of different coloured Kinder Squares.
Step 2
Lay this collage on top of a Rubbing Plate. Use a black Drawing Block and push the crayon away from you pressing down on the paper. This will take a rubbing of the texture underneath.
Step 3
Fold the printed paper in half and cut out a body shape to create two shapes. Use the remaining paper to fold cut two wings and two tails.
Step 4
Cut some leaf shapes from a Cardboard Square. Lay the leaf shapes under a sheet of A3 Cover Paper and gently rub over the leaf stencil with a Drawing Block.
Step 5
Continue to create the background in this manner changing colour and position of the cardboard leaf stencil until the sheet is fully covered in leaves.
Step 6
Lay the two parrot bodies on to the background and glue them in place. Add the wings, tails, beaks and Button eyes.
Step 7
Cut leaves from Tissue Paper to add to the background.